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Warcraft RPG
= Overview = Warcraft RPG: 1st Edition Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game is d20-based, pen-and-paper RPG from White Wolf Publishing under their Sword & Sorcery group. Initially published in 2003 under the d20 System License, it was basically a campaign setting for Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition lacking detailed character generation or advancement rules (so you had to own the D&D core rulebooks) and instead concentrating on describing the setting. The book contained several short stories approximately 2-3 pages in length. World of Warcraft RPG: 2nd Edition In 2005 White Wolf published a new edition of the Warcraft RPG, now called World of Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game to tie in with the success of World of Warcraft, under the Open Gaming License. Even though the official name of the RPG changed it is still widely referred to only as "Warcraft RPG" for simplicity's sake. The new core rule book created for the game isn't an entire replacement for the old game's core rule book, as it covers a seperate time period in the warcraft timeline, and also contains new material, related to that point in history. Unfortunutely there are little or no short stories printed in the new series with only the core rulebook containing a simple anecdote in the introduction to the book. This has since changed, as the Alliance Player's Guide, includes several short stories. =Short Stories= D&D: Warcraft, The Role Playing Game The book contains 7 untitled short stories. *Oakwidow Trilogy – 3 stories following the machinations of the rather sinister Night Elf Oakwidow who seems to enjoy the torment of others. :*Vale Tale – Oakwidow watches as horde and alliance members clash with unholy bloodlust in a cursed vale in Kalimdor, where a demon had once fallen. :*Redjaw's Tale – From advice from from Oakwidow, the orc blademaster Redjaw, and some of his comrades head to a dwarven mining town looking for work, but are soon attacked by the undead dwarven, elven, and human corpses that have taken over the town and its mines. :*Oakwidow's Tale – Oakwidow lies to a group of adventurers in order to get them to attack a night elf mine guarded by ancients, which she claims are completely harmless. *Gennette's Tale – Genette, a human warrior has just survived an attack by demons, and escapes to find an unlikely band of adventurers by a "Temple to a forgotten God", and decides to join them. *Hellak Darkhorn's Tale – Hellak Darkhorn, Tauren warrior in the service of the alliance has a run in with H'jalla Danfour, human warrior in the service of the Horde. *Alayin Glitterhelm's Tale – Alayin Glitterhelm a High Elven mage murders a far seer in Kalimdor, in order to get the Book of Khadger he was guarding. Unfortunately he soon learns that something else was guarding the book. *Shargha & Boraga's Tale – Within Shargha's Stronghold in Kalimdor, the orc chieftian Shargha has a discussion with his underchief Boraga about their opinion of the world's state of affairs. World of Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game *Hroun Firesinger's Tale – Hroun Firesinger, a tauren shaman contemplates how life is good in Mulgore. = More Info = Second Edition Editing Snafus The Second Edition, suffered from several editing issues that lead to mistakes with other warcraft lore. These errors came to the chagrin of the fans, leading the editors to issue explanation and errata for the issues. "As for Grom, we apologize. One of our writers misunderstood a manuscript and thought that Grom was killed by Thrall, since you fight him as an enemy in the last Orc scenario in Warcraft 3. Grom was not killed by Thrall, but by the pit lord Mannoroth, who also died at the same time from Grom's axe. Think of that depiction as... the human's viewpoint. Perhaps the Alliance saw Grom's death at Thrall's hands and not some demon? Also, any references to Illidan killing Mannoroth should be turned to Magtheridon. Demon names all look the same, especially with pit lords." -Adam Loyd (aka Magus the Extreme), WoW RPG Game Designer. Books Warcraft: the Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook: 1st Edition Dungeons & Dragons: Warcraft the Roleplaying Game * Product and ordering info at White-Wolf.com *:Takes place about one year after the events Warcraft 3 and mostly before the events of the Frozen Throne, and briefly mentions the events of Admiral Proudmoore attacks on the Orcs in Kalimdor as being a future event. Manual of Monsters *Product and ordering info at White-Wolf.com *:Not set in any precise time period and covers creatures found throughout the timeline. Much of appendix two is set after The Frozen Throne. Alliance & Horde Compendium *Product and ordering info at White-Wolf.com *:This book is set not long after the events of Frozen Throne. Magic & Mayhem *Product and ordering info at White-Wolf.com *:Contains material set after Frozen Throne. Lands of Conflict *Product and ordering info at White-Wolf.com *:Set after the events of Frozen Throne. Shadows & Light *Product and ordering info at White-Wolf.com *:Covers material set across the entire timeline. World of Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook: 2nd Edition *Product and ordering info at White-Wolf.com * Drive Thru RPG * Product info at Amazon.com *:Takes place after the events of Lands of Conflict, about one year after Admiral Proudmoore's death. More Magic and Mayhem * Product and ordering info at White-Wolf.com *:Largely set after World of Warcraft: The Roleplaying game, it contains material set across the entire timeline. Lands of Mystery * Product and ordering info at White-Wolf.com *:Set after "World of Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game", but within same year. Takes place before the World of Warcraft MMO. Alliance Player's Guide * Product and ordering info at White-Wolf.com *:Some portions set before WOW, other portions set between or during events covered in WOW and Burning Crusade. Horde Player's Guide *Product and ordering info at White-Wolf.com :Not yet published. Monster Guide * Product and ordering info at White-Wolf.com :Not yet published. Dark Factions *:Not yet published. Online Bonus Material *Lands of Mystery Extra PDF *Bones of Ironforge PDF *Blue Dragonspawn PDF Lore Issues Although this pen-and-paper gaming system is technically known as "World of Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game", many of the creatures and some of the lore do not appear or seem to coincide within the World of Warcraft the computer game. This has to do with the books taking place chronologically before World of Warcraft, as well as covering conflicting legends by different cultures that don't necessarily agree with each other (like Flavor Lore). Many of the books are placed at different points in the timeline, which also is used to explain differences in the world at those points in time. Cultures have also changed since the points in history in which the RPG books cover, and even between the events of the books, and many cultures mentioned no longer exist at the time of World of Warcraft. Like the MMO, Chris Metzen is in charge of the lore, and he uses the books to expand upon things in his view of the World of Warcraft. Many things do not show up in the MMO, due to limitatons the game's scale, and other gameplay mechanics. These limitations make the game incapable of showing everything. Metzen's personal view is that the history of Azeroth is not found in just one source, but includes the RPG, Novels, Comics, Manuals, and Games. "We're taking the process of building a world seriously and it wasn't just churned out. It had a strong sense of continuity. We've always tried to do that with are ancillary products like the D&D line and our novels. We are kind of painstakenly anal, about making sure all the details add up, that continuity is held to be sacred. So that no matter in what medium you are experiencing warcraft it all feels like a contiguous experiance." -Chris Metzen, World of Warcraft, Behind the Scenes DVD. For example, in this interview Metzen discusses a little bit about on how he uses the RPG to explain things within the World of Warcraft MMO. Furthermore Metzen discusses the RPG as an expansion to Warcraft lore within several Foreword letters within the RPG as well. The Warcraft RPG is said to be a important part into getting to know warcraft lore on the official World of Warcraft site in the "History of Warcraft" section; "Want to know more about the lore of World of Warcraft? The game doesn't require any additional reading to play. However, you might enjoy gaining a more detailed knowledge of Warcraft lore. Here are some resources that are available: ...RPGs... Warcraft Role-Playing Games provide a wealth of information about Warcraft lore." External Links * Official site for the World of Warcraft RPG * Wizards of the Coast: The d20 System and the Open Gaming License * Warlock's RPG-based world map at ScrollsOfLore.com Category:Games Category:Sources Category:Warcraft RPG